


The Interview

by bavariansugarcookie



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky's mostly amused, Don't copy this to another site, Fluff and Angst, Light Angst, M/M, Short & Sweet, Steve gets himself into trouble as usual, moral of the story is don't antagonize a Disaster Bi, mostly fluff honestly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2020-02-04 19:44:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18611248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bavariansugarcookie/pseuds/bavariansugarcookie
Summary: Steve outing himself on national television has unintended consequences once Bucky's back in his life.





	The Interview

Steve and Bucky stood shoulder to shoulder in front of the WWII Memorial, looking at the names. Bucky leaned forward and traced his name carved into the stone before looking down the list. “Where’s yours?”

“Down there,” Steve said, nodding toward the end of the column. He shivered as a cool April breeze blew past. “It always makes me feel like a ghost.”

Bucky smiled sadly. “I know the feeling.” His fingers brushed against Steve’s briefly, and Steve laced his fingers through Bucky’s, grateful that they were both there, together, standing in the sun. 

Bucky rested his metal hand against the stone briefly before turning toward Steve. “I’m glad you’re with me,” he murmured, and Steve smiled.

“Till the end of the line,” he said, and Bucky smiled back.

“Gotta admit, the line went a little further than I expected,” he answered, and Steve laughed.

“I'd do it all again,” he said, squeezing Bucky's hand.

Bucky smiled softly and leaned against Steve. It felt so natural, the small touches that wouldn't draw too much attention or curiosity. Steve shifted so Bucky could lean against his chest.

Bucky sighed. “Wanna go back to the mall?”

“Sure,” Steve started to say, but then he heard an excited squeal behind them.

“Wait, is that… It is!” 

He looked over his shoulder and saw two girls running over, one with bright purple hair and a gray leather jacket, and the other one -- his heart stalled for a minute -- wearing a hoodie with the all-too-familiar star on the chest.

“I can’t believe it’s you!” the girl with the hoodie said. “Both of you! I’m just --” she looked over at the other girl. “It just means a lot, you know? Seeing you together? After all this time?”

The purple-haired girl nodded. “What my girlfriend means to say is -- it just, it helps. Having an Avenger that’s one of us. You know?”

Bucky looked utterly bewildered, and Steve felt his ears start burning.  _ The interview _ . He’d forgotten all about it.

He smiled, “Yeah, it would’ve meant the world to have that when I was your age.” He groaned inwardly. Shouldn’t he have something better to say by now? 

The girl with the hoodie smiled shyly. “I don’t want to take too much of your time, but… can we take a picture?”

Steve glanced at Bucky, who still looked confused, but nodded. “Sure, no problem.”

The girl with the purple hair whipped out her phone and the girls turned so they can take a picture. Steve could only hope his smile looked halfway normal. 

“Thanks so much,” they both said.

“No problem,” Steve said again. “What’re your names?”

“Maya and Clarissa,” the girl with the hoodie said. 

Steve smiled. “Nice to meet you girls. I’ll see you around, ok?”

“Ok,” they both said, grinning at each other, and then they ran off, whispering excitedly.

“Uh, Steve?” Bucky said. “What was that all about?”

Steve sighed, scraping his toe across the ground. “It probably has something to do with the interview.”

Bucky frowned, a dent appearing between his eyebrows, and Steve shoved his hands in his pockets, “Here, I’ll show you.”

They walked back to the mall and found an open bench by the water. Steve pulled out his phone and skimmed through the search results, his face getting redder and redder. How were there so many versions??

“Oh, finally,” he said, relieved. “Here's an original clip.” He skipped the beginning, where the TV news people introduced themselves and gushed over his accomplishments. It was awkward enough listening to them 5 years ago.

He stopped just in time to hear himself say “... But that's a great point, Jane, I have some serious concerns about drone usage - both as a threat to our privacy and a potential cause for more civilian casualties…”

Peter, the dark haired man with the fluorescent white teeth interrupted. “But what about the security threats associated with gay and transgender service members?” 

Steve turned slowly. “I'm not exactly sure what you're referring to,” he said slowly. “All the data shows that there are no negative effects from having LGBT service members.”

Peter frowned. “But we all know you as a defender of American values, Captain Rogers. Surely you don't approve…”

“Last time I checked, I served to stop the Nazis, who didn't like gay people much either,” Steve said coldly. “I didn't serve so I could dictate who should serve after me.”

The other lady, Jessica, interrupted, clearly trying to bring the conversation back on track. “You and Peggy Carter were in love…”

Steve's lips pressed into a thin line, and he glanced at Bucky as the Steve in the video said, “Yes, I loved Peggy, but I also loved James Buchanan Barnes, so if you're looking for a mascot for your homophobic crusade, you might want to find someone else.” 

He took a sip of his coffee while the interviewers sat in stunned silence. He raised an eyebrow. “Any more questions?”

Steve stopped the video, looking up at Bucky nervously. Was Bucky… smiling?

“Only you would out yourself on national television cause some jerk pissed you off,” Bucky said fondly. “I almost feel bad for the guy.”

“You do?” Steve said incredulously.

“Well not  _ really,  _ the guy's an asshole, but it's pretty obvious he had no idea how to handle a righteously angry Steve Rogers,” Bucky said, leaning into him again. “I could've given him some tips.”

Steve's eyes traced Bucky's face. “You're not… upset?”

Bucky looked at him, confused. “Why would I be upset?

Steve shrugged and buried his face in his hands. “Cause I made things more complicated,” he said. “I didn't know you were alive, so I thought telling everyone I loved you would only affect me.” He sighed. “I didn't think about the fact that other people would make assumptions now.”

“I don't think anybody'll be making assumptions,” Bucky said. Steve looked up at him, trying to think how to explain that  _ everyone  _ made assumptions about  _ everything  _ nowadays, when Bucky leaned in and kissed him. In front of all the tourists and the Washington monument. 

Steve froze for an instant, and then he nipped at Bucky's bottom lip, reaching up to run his fingers through Bucky's hair. Bucky smiled against his lips. "Told you. Nobody needs to  _ assume  _ anything now."

Steve vaguely registered frantic whispers breaking the silence. He turned and saw Maya and Clarissa, who looked like they were about to faint, as well as a bunch of tourists with their phones pointed right at him. 

He smiled and waved. "Beautiful day, huh?"

He turned back to Bucky, who looked like he might crack a rib from trying not to laugh. "What? It is a nice day," Steve said, wrapping an arm around Bucky's shoulders. 

"You're so full of shit," Bucky said, smirking as he leaned  his head on Steve's shoulder, looking out at the reflection of the monument.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! <3 I wrote 95% of this in 2018 and COMPLETELY FORGOT about it until I stumbled on it again yesterday. So I thought I'd finish it up and post it, so I hope you enjoyed! 
> 
> Also I wrote this before the transgender military ban went into effect, which I'm pissed as hell about, so hopefully we can get that reversed soon!!
> 
> For some reason I kept flip flopping between present and past tense (which is weird because I NEVER write in present tense) and I think I caught them all, but if you see one I missed, feel free to let me know!


End file.
